Chapter 30
Overdrive
Cracking a beer, I sat down with my brothers and watched Ryan and Teddy trying to train Norman. The dog was pretty damn docile, most of the time, and easy going. At least as long as someone wasn’t attacking Rue or the boys.
He had a home here for the rest of his life, thanks to his actions the night Carrick kidnapped Rue. She and Flir told me all about how that damn dog had taken some nice chunks out of Collective ass while protecting his master.
All that being said, he wasn’t the brightest bulb. Or…maybe he was. Because I honestly couldn’t tell who was training who at this point.
“Looks like Norman has taught those kids to give him treats at his command,” Ruck pointed out as he sat down next to me.
“Was just fucking thinking that,” I said with a laugh.
“What are they trying to get him to do?” Relay asked.
“Sit,” I replied.
“Well, that’s not how you do it,” Flir commented. “They’re using operant conditioning all wrong.”
“How would you know?” Bolo asked him.
“Used it to train my sister’s kid,” Flir replied with a shrug.
Ruck and I leaned forward so we could see around the others and stared at him. Everyone was focused on him now.
“Say what?” Drifter asked.
“Her boy was having a hard time with potty training,” Flir told us. “I bet my brother-in-law that I could have him potty trained in less than a week.”
“Did your sister know about the bet?” Strike asked.
“Not until afterward. She would’ve castrated both of us.”
“No kidding,” Kilo said with a laugh. “You’re probably still lucky you got away with your balls.”
“It worked, so she couldn’t really complain,” Flir said, “...much.”
Kilo considered that. “I mean…I’m about to have a kid. What’s operant conditioning?”
“It’s using consequences to shape behavior, and it has four quadrants based on whether you’re adding or removing something, and whether it increases or decreases behavior.”
Ruck sighed and rubbed his forehead. “You’re not allowed to use it on Kilo’s kid. Or any of the kids,” he said when Flir opened his mouth to argue. “Or on Kilo either.”
“It really works!”
“I don’t even know what the fuck he said,” I admitted.
“Trainers use it in dog training all the time,” Flir said. “And really humans use it often without even knowing it. Every time my nephew took a shit on the toilet, I rewarded him.”
“Oh shit,” Merc said with a grin. “I know that one. It’s positive reinforcement.”
Flir pointed at him. “Exactly. Dog sits, dog gets treat.”
“Kid shits, kid gets treat,” Bolo echoed.
“Basically.”
“That seems easy enough,” Kilo said, eyes narrowed.
“Well, there are three other quadrants,” Flir told him.
“What are you boys doing?” Mercy asked as she and Rue walked up.
I’d never seen Flir shut his trap so damn fast in my life. Laughing, I stood and grabbed my girl by the hand. “We’ll let Flir explain that to you,” I told her. I gave Flir a wink and ignored the bird he flipped my way.
“What is Flir explaining?” Mercy asked as she sat down.
I didn’t stay for the show. I’d been waiting for Rue to get home from her shift. She’d gone back to work once everything settled down.
It’d been a month since we took out Carrick and got Ryan back.
This wasn’t the end of things. The Collective wasn’t going to sit back and let us get away with taking out one of its factions.
And we weren’t about to let them continue stirring shit and breathing.
But we needed more information. More planning. Just more…before we dove in.
So we were busy working on that in the background. The apartments were finished. Ryan and Teddy were settled here at the compound with us. Things were beginning to settle. Which meant it was just about time for shit to kick off again. That was how it seemed to work.
Before that happened, I had plans. I pulled Rue off to the side, over near the expanse of grass that Ruck had put in. He claimed it was for future kids but I seriously wondered if it was for Norman to roll around on. The Rottie loved to wiggle on his back in it every chance he got.
Rue didn’t even have time to ask what was going on. I dropped down to a knee and pulled the little box out of the inner pocket of my cut. “Rue-”
Her eyes widened as she stared down at me. But she didn’t interrupt.
“I love you. I want to marry you. Have kids with you. Will you be my old lady?” Fancy words weren’t really my thing.
In fact, not all that long ago I would’ve thought I was making a mistake doing this.
But then I’d met my match. A woman who was as giving and kind as my mother with a spine of steel and a heart a mile wide.
If this was a mistake, then I’d accept it and call it the best folly I’d ever made.
“Yes,” she said, sinking down onto her knees in front of me.
I considered it a plus that she wasn’t sprinting hard for the fence right now. I slid the ring I’d gotten her onto her finger. “You’re sure you want to be stuck with me long-term?” I joked.
She laughed. “Believe it or not? Yeah.”
“Hey.”
“You brought it up,” she pointed out. Then she leaned forward and kissed me. “I never thought I’d have any of this,” she told me when our lips parted.
“Any of what?”
“A family.” Her smile turned sad. “Ryan was pulling away from me, then he left just like… Well, you know.”
“I wasn’t completely sure you wouldn’t bolt when I asked,” I admitted.
“I’m so far beyond that,” she said with a happy sigh. “I want this. You belong to me.” Her grin was wide as she teased me.
“No, you belong to me,” I told her, dropping my voice lower in the way that made her laugh and blush.
“We belong to each other,” she compromised.
“And I really like all of this. Thanks to your brothers and Mercy, I have built in friends. And family. And I’ve got the boys.
And Norman.” Her eyes were sparkling in the sunlight, like glass left out in the light.
“I’ve gotten everything I never knew I wanted. That I needed.”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” I told her. “Never thought I’d be the settling down type. Now I can’t imagine any other life than one with you.”
Wrapping her up in my arms, I enjoyed holding her close. “Damn,” I said as something occurred to me.
“What?”
“Guess I’d better introduce you to my mother.” She stiffened in my arms. “Don’t worry,” I told her, “she’ll love you far more than she loves me.”
That made her laugh and relax. “If you say so.”
“I do. She’s going to be thrilled because she didn’t think I was ever going to get married either. You’ll be like a miracle for her.”
“That’s a lot to live up to,” she teased.
We got up off our knees and I tucked her under my arm as we walked. I liked keeping her close. “Let’s just keep going.”
“I’m sorry?”
“We don’t have to tell them,” I explained, looking over at where my brothers were all watching us. Mercy was clearly scolding Flir, but he wasn’t paying attention to her anymore. They were all too focused on us.
“They’re your family,” she reminded me.
“They’re assholes,” I told her. “Guaranteed there’s a bet going.”
“A bet?” she asked, sounding startled.
“I have no doubts.”
“Did you ask her to marry you?” Kilo yelled from across the compound.
“You better not have!” Code called out. “I need you to wait two more days.”
Everyone groaned. “Now the results are all fucked up,” Flir complained, scowling at Code.
“I asked,” I told them as we got closer.
“Fuck yes!” Relay cackled, holding his hand out to Flir. “Pay up, assholes.”
“How does he do that?” Hype muttered.
“Same way Ruck always manages to. He would’ve won if he’d got in on the betting,” Flir said.
“How’s that?” Bolo asked.
“He picked today as the day OD would propose originally,” Flir said, counting out bills.
“Then how did Relay… You fucking cheat,” Bolo said, the pieces clicking into place.
“Not my fault I overheard them,” Relay said with a shrug. “Not my fault Ruck refused to lower himself to our level and bet on this shit.”
“That’s not fair,” Code muttered.
“No such thing as fair in gambling, Kid,” Relay said with a smirk. “Better you learn that now.”
Everyone watched with a range of expressions as Flir paid out Relay.
“Next time just bet,” I told Ruck. “It’ll save us all the headache of having to listen to Relay gloat about winning.”
“Sure. I’ll do that,” Ruck said. “Congratulations.” He stood up and by passed me and hugged my old lady instead.
“Find your own, Prez,” I told him after a minute. But Ruck passed Rue off to Kilo, and that started a round robin of hugs that meant I didn’t get my old lady back until everyone had embraced her. Code was going to get his face pounded in here shortly if he didn’t give her back.
“Alright, enough,” Ruck said with a laugh. “Give her back to him before he loses his shit.”
“Bunch of dicks,” I muttered, tucking Rue in close to my side where she belonged. But I had to bite back my grin. All was right in my world, and even though we had trouble heading our way, I knew we’d work our way through it.